After a six-month layoff, the Shadow and Act Digital Filmmaker Showcase is back with Round 2.

If this is the first time you’re hearing about the Showcase, please click HERE for the original announcement and HERE for the announcement of the winner of Round 1, James Bland.

We received an unusually large number of submissions since the end of Round 1 and decided to go ahead and schedule Round 2 before the end of the year.

Going forward, please note that submissions will be open continuously until March 15, 2012, the final date for submissions to Round 5, the final round.

The qualifying round your film will be placed in will depend on the date of your submission. Click HERE for the official rules and submission guidelines.

Round 2 submissions reflect a pretty diverse slate of films with a more pronounced international flavor. Two of the films hail from France, one from the UK and one set in Dublin, Ireland.

The new US entries all have pretty strong festival profiles and will join some of your favorite films carried over from Round 1.

Given the initial streaming and voting challenges we experienced the first time around, we’ve developed a new website - shadowandactfilms.com/FilmmakerShowcase/ - to house the films, and collect your votes. So, head over to the challenge site HERE to watch the films and vote for your favorites. You can only vote once, but you may choose more than one film when doing so.

The webpage also includes a Facebook share button that allows you to notify your Facebook friends about the competition. Please use it to spread the word. The higher the number of voters, the more competitive and balanced the Showcase will be.

The webpage has a back button to this post, where you can share your comments on the films.

Round 2 will end on January 15, 2012 and a winner will be announced shortly thereafter. So be sure to record your votes soon.